California values vs. Idaho values

8/8/12 7:24 PM EDT

The difference between Idaho and California, red- and blue-state paragons, respectively, in one snapshot.

From KQED’s Jon Brooks, who reports on the California Fish and Game Commission’s ouster of commission head Dan Richards:

At today's meeting, just one citizen spoke in favor of Richards, who caused a stir in February when he shot and killed a cougar in Idaho. The small turnout is in marked contrast to a Fish and Game Commission meeting in March, when 60 people expressed their support for Richards during the two-and-a-half hour public comment period.

Richards became notorious to some after posing with the mountain lion's dead carcass for an outdoors magazine. That caused an uproar as animal-rights organizations and a slew of Democrats in the legislature sought to remove him from office, though the effort petered out. Cougar hunting is legal in Idaho but not in California.

Among Richards's detractors: Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“I do appreciate that you did nothing illegal in Idaho, but it is clear that your actions do not reflect the values of the people of California,” he wrote in a February letter to Richards.

Idaho isn’t so fond of California, either. While California out-migration has driven Idaho population growth for years, it’s also led to bumper stickers reading “Don’t Californicate Idaho” and “Keep Idaho beautiful, go back to California.”